Smart and stubborn.
It's a scary combination for anyone, especially an athlete.
Michigan wrestler Bill Lacure is not only 20-4 on the season, ranked third in the country at 150 pounds, and wrestling in the National Wrestling Coaches Association All-Star Classic at Clarion University on Feb. 3, but he is also a First-Team Academic All-American.
"Bill's got a good head on his shoulders," Michigan coach Dale Bahr said. "He's an excellent student. That helps a lot in athletics, because he's aware of what he has to do in terms of preparation. He's aware of what he has to do in competition, and he's able to handle stressful situations really well."
On a team that has been struggling lately at the lower weight classes, the Wolverines count on Lacure, as a tri-captain and All-American, to score a lot of points and win his matches.
Every time he steps on the mat, Lacure's teammates know what they can expect from him, and they also know that he has the ability to deliver in the clutch.
"Since he's ranked in the top three in the nation in his weight class, there's not going to be too many times he meets somebody equal to him in his ability," Bahr said.
"If he's meeting someone of lesser ability, not only do we expect him to win, but we expect him to put extra points on the board, extra team points on the board, which means we're looking for wins by a major decision or better."
No matter how talented or bright a wrestler is, big wins do not come easily or without a little advice. A stubborn attitude can hurt an athlete, which not only hurts himself, but also hurts the team.
"Sometimes I get these ideas in my head, like an idea about what I want to do or what I want to get done, and it's really hard for me to try to determine that, to try something else," Lacure said.
A perfect example occurred in the Wolverines' Jan. 25 dual meet against Northwestern. After losing some of the early matches in that meet, the Wolverines were looking to their All-Americans - Lacure, Jeff Catrabone and Airron Richardson - to bring in some extra points.
Lacure was up 4-1 on his opponent in the second period. Since Lacure's strongest position is on his feet, his coaches wanted him to let his opponent up, and then take him down. Lacure wanted to try and turn his opponent, which is not his strength.
He ended up winning the match, 5-4, but he was not able to bring in the big points the Wolverines needed.
"Against Northwestern, I really, for some reason, got this idea that I wanted to pin that guy, and I wanted to turn him," Lacure said.
"I should have let him go and just taken him down, beat him on my feet. I just, I don't know, wasn't thinking."
Having wrestled since he was five years old, Lacure first became interested in the sport by watching his uncles. When he saw an ad in the paper promoting a program for younger kids, his mother signed him up.
But wrestling is not Lacure's only campus activity. He is a member of M-PACT, which is a group of student-athletes who have gone through training sessions to counsel people with problems, such as drugs or stress.
Along with a few other student-athletes, Lacure was the founder of SHARE - Student Athletes Helping to Achieve Reading Excellence.
The organization, comprised of three or four athletes from different teams, reads to elementary school students and answers questions.
"We just want to go out there and kind of give people a feel that these athletes are real people, and they're doing these things and they're students also," Lacure said.
"One of our goals is to try to incorporate the idea that academics are really important."
As much as Lacure's coaches would like for him to focus on wrestling, Lacure's versatility sets a good example for his younger teammates.
"I like it, to tell you the truth, that he's a well-rounded individual," Bahr said.
"He's a very active, well-rounded young man, and I guess, sometimes, we coaches like to have people hone in on just wrestling and school, a combination of the two. Ten years from now that will be a real asset for him, to be involved in a lot of different activities."
As much as he enjoys wrestling, nothing is more important to Lacure than being an all-around person.
"I made a promise to myself years ago, when I was in high school, that I wasn't just going to be an athlete," Lacure said. "I didn't want to hold up that stereotype that was all I was about."